Hanging Out With Jesus

The people we spend the most time with tend to have the greatest influence on us. We tend to become more like them.

Thankfully, in my case, this is a good thing. My wife Pat and I spend more time together than most married couples we know. Pat has her own business, so she works out of the house. And with our church campus being within walking distance of our house, I’m rarely all that far away from home myself. We tend to see each other several times a day.

The time I have spent with Pat over the last 32 years has influenced my life in so many good ways. It’s unavoidable. I love the sun, the moon, stars, clouds, the ocean, babies, and people in general more than I would if it were not for the difference Pat has made in my life.

This year as a church family, we are making a commitment to spend more time hanging out with Jesus. We are going to be making our way through the gospel of John in our weekend services. We will take a few scenic detours such as a series on relationships in February. But ultimately by the end of the year, we will have journeyed our way through John’s entire book, walking with Jesus each step of the way just like he did. Many of our LIFEGroups will be doing sermon-based discussion questions, which will allow them to go deeper with the weekend message and get to know Jesus even better.

As Christ followers, we can rest assured knowing that God is for us and that He will orchestrate our lives in such a way as to mold us into the image of Christ. Paul states it this way in Romans 8:28-29:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son….”

I wish every one of you had the opportunity to spend as much time with Pat as I do because it would make such a difference in your life. But maybe that’s not so realistic. On the other hand, each and every one of us can spend more time with Jesus. If we do, we will unavoidably become a lot more like Him, and that is a very good thing.